ANTWERP: Sergio Herman and Syrco Bakker are bringing a taste of their restaurants in Cadzand Bad, Netherlands to Antwerp this summer. As from June 5, they have opened a deli in the Belgian city of Antwerp serving dishes from restaurants Pure C, Air Cafe, Air Republic and Blueness in Cadzand, and Frites Atelier, as well as showcasing a number of small producers and startups. The Deli is a concept that has been created by FoodFest, an annual culinary event that Sergio and Syrco organise in Cadzand Bad. FoodFest had been bringing a combination of food, drinks, music and talks since 2015 which is exactly what the focus of the deli will be. “Foodfest is not going to happen this year, maybe it will not be possible to hold it even next year. We thought it would be a good idea to bring food to the city. People can enjoy casual, easy going dishes that they can get out of the fridge as well as a selection of good produce from farmers and new producers,” Sergio Herman told Food and Wine … [Read more...]
Sofie Delbeke and Matthieu Beudaert launch La Bicicletta for summer
KORTRIJK: Sofie Delbeke and Matthieu Beudaert known for their former star restaurant Table d’Amis and restaurant Beudaert will open a summer concept in the coming days in Sint Maarten’s square, Kortrijk. La Bicicletta is a restaurant with a bar and will resemble a trattoria and will be an ode to Italian cuisine and to the square where the restaurant is located. It will replace restaurant Beudaert for the summer and will remain open till mid-September. The couple are also planning The trattoria will be open till mid-September and the couple said they want to keep what’s coming next as a surprise. On the menu at the trattoria are a series of antipasti, first courses and second courses as well as classic Italian desserts. Dishes include vitello tonnato, asparagus with bottarga (fish roe), bursts with taggiasche olives, a number of pasta dishes and fish and meat dishes. “The impact of the coronavirus crisis on the hospitality industry have been hard. Not only where we … [Read more...]
Thomas Troupin and Marie-Charlotte Portois announce closure of La Menuiserie
WAIMES: La Menuiserie, one of the top restaurants in Wallonia announced it will close its doors. The restaurant owned by chef Thomas Troupin and his wife Marie-Charlotte Portois, who worked at L'Air du Temps before opening the restaurant in January 2013 said they were very sad to announce the closure of the restaurant. "La Menuiserie has represented more than seven years of hard work, tens of thousands of hours of work, thousands of clients, over a hundred employees and countless briefings and debriefings," the couple said. "Our passion has not been lost but these times of confinement have been a time of reflection for us. We will seek out new adventures and hope to discover new destinations. We thank you for your support since January 2013 and who knows, maybe we can welcome you in Menuiserie 2.0," the couple said. In the highest spot in Belgium, La Menuiserie was one of the highly regarded restaurants in Wallonia. When I visited the restaurant in January, I discovered a … [Read more...]
The Jane goes open air for summer
ANTWERP: The Jane, one of the most stunning restaurants in the world will go open air during the summer months. The open air restaurant will be open from June 12 in collaboration with Sommar. The unique outdoor food concept will be open on the banks of the River Scheldt where the team from the Upper Room Bar team can be creative with produce, fire and temperature using the best local products. "During these uncertain times we need to be creative and reinvent ourselves," Nick Bril said. Because of the limitations imposed it is not possible to reopen the Upper Room Bar and it was for this reason that the team at The Jane decided to take the bar to an outdoor location. The entire Upper Room Bar team is happy to welcome you to this summer location. Nick Bril, Thomas Swenters and Jean-Philippe Vormezeele will be responsible for food. Trésor Vets, along with other well-known Upper Room Bar faces, will take care of the service. Tables can be booked via the link here. The … [Read more...]
L.E.S.S. Summery Eatery opens in former Hertog Jan
BRUGES: Gert de Mangeleer and Joachim Boudens, the owners of the Hertog Jan Group have announced the reopening of their restaurants as COVID-19 measures were lifted by the Belgian government. After a few months without activities or guests, the former three Michelin star restaurant Hertog Jan will be ready to welcome restaurant visitors for L.E.S.S Summer eatery. L.E.S.S. Eatery will be transformed from the central Bruges urban space to a summer open-air restaurant serving Southern dishes. Their other restaurant, Bar Bulot, in their first Hertog Jan restaurant will also open its doors and terraces on Tuesday 9 June for a warm summer full of Bar Bulot classics from the Belgian kitchen. Over the past few months, the Hertog Jan team have thought very carefully about all the hygiene measures that are needed while at the time ensuring that guests have a nice restaurant experience. L.E.S.S. Eatery is therefore becoming L.E.S.S. Summer Eatery in a redesigned Hertog Jan garden … [Read more...]
A campaign to go Food Plastic Free launches on 1 June
EIT Food West is launching a plastic free campaign aimed at forcing people to think about their plastic waste and consequences affecting our mother Earth as well as our personal wellbeing. The campaign starts on Monday 1 June and runs for 33 days. During these days, EIT Food West and its ambassadors (among them vegGo from France) and and Le Castel de Bois Genoud from Switzerland) will help you with useful tips and tricks on how to reduce single-use plastics in your daily life The Plastic Free Challenge ‘ZERO PLASTIC HERO’ designed by EIT Food West is fuelled by creative and useful tips and tricks on how to go ‘food plastic free’. It is aimed to inspire and engage people, rather than just to inform. Single-use plastics have become a plague on our environment. They are so deep-rooted in our daily lives that they are hard to escape and very often we think life without single-use plastics is simply not possible anymore. It holds a massive presence in modern life – for instance at … [Read more...]
Niko Romito launches Pandolce
CASTEL DI SANGRO: Italian chef Niko Romito has launched 'Pandolce', a sweet bread that he has created in his bakery in Castel di Sangro, close to his restaurant Reale. The Pandolce is available for sale online with deliveries from 4 June onwards. It is also available for sale in Spazio Niko Romito Bar e Cucina in Rome which has been open for takeaways within a four kilometre radius over the past weeks of lockdown. "Pandolce is the new cake that I have created after years of study and research on the fermentation techniques of yeast in traditional Italian pastry. I have created it in two different versions, the classic one and one with chocolate. I imagine it as a daily hug that can be eaten at any time of day and which will be available throughout the year," Niko said. The Pandolce has the flavours and aromas from the various products Niko uses to prepare the mixture including an emulsion of almonds and olive oil which makes the cake soft and delicate, creamy and light. It … [Read more...]
Venissa: A vineyard saved and a new wine launched
VENICE: Enrico Rossetti who was born and lives in Burano, Venice, has become a bit of a symbol of Venice's difficult few months. His photo, taken in front of Venissa, the restaurant he worked in, during the high tides went viral. Now, because of the COVID-19 crisis and Venissa closed, Enrico has started working in the vineyard of the winery that owns the restaurant. The vineyard is home to one of the unique grapes of the region, the Dorona of Venice which is used to make the Venissa wine. Enrico worked at Venissa since 2019 and the company gave him an indefinite contract. But with tourism coming to a complete halt, Enrico has been working in the winery in the winery instead. "I cannot complain. I am working in the 'countryside', in the tranquility of the lagoon and being in the contact with nature is something I really enjoy," he said. But it is not only Enrico's job that has been saved. The walled vineyard of Venissa was also saved from the November high tides that … [Read more...]
Utopicfood launches documentary series “Can chefs save the world?”
SINGAPORE: In the summer of 2019 a select gathering of the world’s most famed culinary geniuses sat down to answer the question, “Can Chefs Save the World?” Now UTOPICFOOD!, an initiative to promote awareness of issues related to all forms of food production, is just releasing the result: a captivating three-part video series that is being rolled out from April to June 2020. The work captured the profound concerns, causes and creative thinking of 15 culinary innovators and was so compelling that National Geographic Asia previewed the pilot episode to coincide with the period surrounding Earth Day 2020 on April 22. This year's team was action to stop climate change. Out of their kitchens, chefs including José Andrés, Mitsuhara Tsumara, May Chow, Julien Royer and Andoni Luiz Aduriz speak about the state of the world and the future of cuisine outside their kitchens. José Andrés passionately advocated recognition of those who “feed the many” and called for a campaign against … [Read more...]
Dierendonck to open second shop in Brussels
BRUSSELS: Hendrik Dierendonck, the renowned nose to tail Belgian butcher will open his second shop in Brussels. The Belgian butcher announced he has taken over Le Charolais, a family run butcher shop in Rue Vanderkindere in the heart of the ‘Quartier des Artisans’. Rue Vanderkindere is probably the foodie street par excellence in Brussels with many speciality shops including among others cheesemonger Julien Hazard and pâtissier and baker Le Saint Aulaye. This is the second shop that Dierendonck will open in Brussels after opening a shop in Rue St. Catherine in central Brussels in 2017. When he was young, the Belgian butcher used to work with his father Raymond Dierendonck in St Idesbald on the Belgian coast in summer while in winter he spent his time in Brussels. No date has yet been announced for the opening of the butcher shop. The original intention had been to open Dierendonck on Rue Vanderkindere this month but plans have been delayed because of COVID-19. In … [Read more...]